The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) is an international association well known among veterinarians and pet owners for its standards of care for hospitals and pet health. Only 12% of veterinary hospitals choose to voluntarily participate in the rigorous AAHA hospital evaluation program. Consultants regularly visit these hospitals to ensure compliance with AAHA’s standards for services and facilities. Accredited hospitals are strictly evaluated on over 900 standards.
As an AAHA accredited animal hospital, we have a regular inspection and evaluation in several categories: anesthesia, client service, contagious disease, continuing education, dentistry, diagnostic, imaging, emergency and critical care, examination facilities, housekeeping and maintenance, human resources, laboratory, leadership, medical records, pain management, patient care, pharmacy, referral standards, safety, and surgery.
Here are two examples:
Pain and Suffering. We must make sure that pain assessment is considered part of every patient evaluation, regardless of the presenting complaint.
Patient comfort should be a primary objective of the practice team. Continual pain is detrimental to the overall healing process as well as general well-being. Unrelieved pain leads to suffering, stress, anxiety, and diminished quality of life.
Hot and Cold. A standard you may not have thought about, is that the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is always climate controlled and regularly filtered air supply is provided to all areas of the practice.
The rationale behind this is that heating and cooling systems impact the practice on several levels. An adequate system which is well maintained will ensure comfortable temperature levels throughout the facility, from the reception room to the kennel area. In high humidity areas moisture control is an important consideration in preventing the spread of pathogens, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Appropriate temperature and humidity control will not only impact the quality of patient care but the productivity of the staff. Excessive humidity can promote the spread of microbes and require re-sterilizing equipment and surgical supplies on a more frequent basis.
It’s Time for Our Check Up! The last time we had a certification review was in 2014. It was rigorous as always, but we passed with flying colors, thank you very much. But we’re happy to do it, because we want you to be sure that your pet will receive top-quality care at Town N Country Animal Hospital.
Just like checkups we give your pet, our check up helps us stay on the leading edge of veterinary medicine and provide the high quality and range of services you and your pet deserve.